\chapter{The World(s) of Darkness}

\section[The Mortal World]{}

\subsection{A Life in Horror: The Good and The Bad}
\vspace*{-6pt}
\quot{``Interesting fact: The Final Girl trope emerged shortly after young women became a major component of horror movie attendees.''}

\desc{Life in the World of Darkness is actually pretty horrible, and extremely dangerous. Life in the World of Darkness is life in a horror movie. Or rather, it is a world not unlike Earth would be if all the horror movies are real. This means that body counts are extremely high, and it is very difficult to get help. This is good news if you happen to be a vampire, but really bad for anyone looking for a life of vaguely normal properties. Here are some important things to remember:}

\desc{\begin{list}{$\bullet$}{\itemspace}
\item \textbf{The Police are no help at all.} Heavily infiltrated by cultists and secret societies, the police in the World of Darkness are astoundingly ineffective. Sure they will \emph{occasionally} bring down a killer, but the vast majority of crimes go unsolved. Many crimes don't even get investigated, especially if something supernatural is afoot.
\item \textbf{Telecommunications are Shoddy.} Sat Phones aren't available in the World of Darkness. Cellphone coverage cuts out constantly at inopportune moments. Regular telecommunication wires go down frequently and are out for days at a time. The inability to get a call out of a building or town isn't unusual, that kind of thing happens a lot in the World of Darkness.
\item \textbf{People Don't Travel Much} It's not \emph{weird} for people to not know what goes on in the next town over in the World of Darkness. Things are just more dangerous, and people keep to themselves more.
\end{list}}
\vspace{4pt}

\desc{Keep this in mind when you're planning your nights in the World of Darkness. Life is less connected to other life in the World of Darkness and it is \emph{much} easier for dangerous elements to thrive in such an environment.}

\desc{That being said, it is important to remember that most horror movies begin with people thinking things are pretty normal, and \emph{end} with something of a return to normalcy as well (or do they?). So it's not like Jason is running around the streets murdering people left and right. Indeed, while the death rate from serial and mass murder is large enough in the World of Darkness to compete with traffic accidents or opiate abuse, the fact is that you're still more likely to die from cancer. Supernatural creatures remain hidden and the President of the United States is openly a mundane human. A vampire can't just flash their fangs to get free entry to a movie theater, and indeed they could be in a lot of trouble if they flash their fangs in a public space of any kind.}

\clearpage
\subsection{The Four Worlds}
\vspace*{-6pt}
\quot{``Things are crawling in all over the place these days.''}

\desc{A very common trope in horror is the inclusion of additional worlds that are full of terror and danger. This is very useful, since of course having an extra world around allows you to fit things into the narrative that would be otherwise very difficult to fit into the Earth. Demon armies, forgotten cities, and strange and deadly plants can be piled to the sky and beyond without otherwise upsetting the world provided that they were never in the world in the first place. Furthermore, the idea that monsters can come in sideways is by itself a wonderfully useful notion for the horror genre, because it severely undermines the concept of safety in a fortress or locked room.}

\desc{That being said, it is also true that there are a lot of alternate worlds to be had in various stories. Too \emph{many} alternate worlds to be anything vaguely approaching something workable. And so it is that as a compromise we have cut things down to three alternate realities:}

\desc{\begin{list}{$\bullet$}{\itemspace}
\item \textbf{Limbo: The Dark Reflection} The best rendition of the Dark Reflection is probably in \underline{Silent Hill}. It's a world very much like our own but scoured with demonic powers. Ash falls from the sky like rain and everything looks abandoned or scorched. Demons prowl the Dark Reflection.
\item \textbf{Mictlan: The Gloom} The best rendition of the Gloom is of course in \underline{Nightwatch}, which even calls the place that. It's a cold and oppressive world where darkness presses insistently upon the light and heat of travelers. Powers of death leak in from every crevice and extinguish fires and the lives of small animals. Blood hungering insects and ghosts scour the Gloom.
\item \textbf{Maya: The Dreamlands} Think of a combination of the deadly dreamworlds of \underline{Nightmare on Elm Street} and the fantastic realms of \underline{Narnia}. This is where dreams and wild things go, but since this is the World of Darkness the dreams are often as not inspired by Freddy and the beasts are more likely to be the deadly monsters from Anaconda than friendly Aslan analogues.
\end{list}}
\vspace{4pt}

\desc{Each of these worlds has two levels. One can go to the first level where interaction with the mortal realm is still possible, and one can go to the deeper level where it is not. In short, like in \underline{Silent Hill} it is possible to straddle the worlds where you can still open and close the door of your house and see what's on the stove but demons from the Dark Reflection can attack you. It's also possible to be all the way in the Dark Reflection, where things are a terrifying hellscape and nothing makes any sense.}

\clearpage
\input{worlds/maya}

\input{worlds/limbo}

\input{worlds/mictlan}

\input{worlds/between}

\clearpage
\input{worlds/inhabitants}